economy

The first widely used example of this launched in 2009 and runs with no central bank behind it.

What is "cryptocurrency"?

Q: What is "cryptocurrency"?

Digital money secured by cryptography. Cryptocurrency is digital money secured by cryptography and usually recorded on a blockchain, with no central bank issuing it. Bitcoin, launched in 2009, was the first widely used example.

Digital money secured by cryptography ✓
Coins made of a rare metal
Store loyalty points

Digital money secured by cryptography
Cryptocurrency is digital money secured by cryptography and usually recorded on a blockchain, with no central bank issuing it. Bitcoin, launched in 2009, was the first widely used example.

Cryptocurrency is a form of digital money secured using cryptography, mathematical techniques that make transactions verifiable and extremely difficult to forge, and it is typically recorded on a decentralized public ledger called a blockchain rather than controlled by any single bank or government. This decentralization means no central authority issues new currency or approves transactions; instead, a distributed network of computers collectively verifies and records them.

Coins made of a rare physical metal describe traditional precious-metal currency, the opposite of a purely digital asset with no physical form. Store loyalty points are typically centrally controlled by a single company and can't be transferred or verified independently the way a decentralized cryptocurrency can.

Bitcoin, launched in 2009, was created in the aftermath of the global financial crisis, partly as a response to distrust in centralized banks, and its underlying blockchain technology has since inspired thousands of other cryptocurrencies and non-financial applications.

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